Longue Vue House and Gardens, New Orleans, LA

Longue Vue House and Gardens, on the registry of National Historic Places, stands alone as an impressive work of architecture, grace and style. Elegantly designed and engineered, it is one of the very few houses in below-sea-level New Orleans to have a full basement. The 3 storey house with over 30 rooms was begun in the 1920s, and has been reconstructed twice due to damage and natural disaster. It combines elements from the architecture and landscape design of the formal English, Italian and Southern American styles, and hosts one of the major garden and horticultural sites in the world, more extraordinary for its setting in the centre of urban New Orleans.

Longue Vue House and Gardens was built to express the dreams of Edgar and Edith Stern, who were among the most important philanthropists in New Orleans. Both Sterns came from and wealthy and powerful families, Edgar the son of a wealthy New Orleans cotton broker and Edith an hier to the Sears, Roebuck & Company. Both families also had a history and practice of giving major portions of their wealth back to their community. In 1931, they founded the Flint-Goodridge Hospital, remarkable in it’s day as it was the only such hospital built especially for the black community of central New Orleans. Numbering more than 130,000 persons, this community had nowhere to go for medical treatment until the Sterns’ actions gave them their own centre. This was even more remarkable as it occurred during the depths of the Great Depression when the plight of the urban poor, especially the Black poor, was at it’s most desperate.

The Sterns embarked upon their project with landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman and with architects William and Geoffrey Platt, and began to create an oasis of beauty in the early 1920s. Longue Vue now stands as one of the last great mansions in America, completed during the years ending the Great Depression and the start of World War II  - 1939 - 1942.

In order to finish the project and create the gardens which surround the house and grounds, the Sterns brought in renowned landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman and famous naturalist Caroline Dorman to design and plant their oasis. Mrs Shipman was described at the time by House and Gardens magazine as “the dean of American woman in landscape architecture.” Miss Dorman, author of Wild Flowers of Louisiana (1934), used her extensive knowledge of Louisiana plant life to paint the estate in a vivid array of colour and beauty.

Many rooms inside the house have specific themes, much as does The White House in Washington, D.C. No expense was spared in obtaining the finest furniture and antiques that were available. There the Sterns entertained many of the famous of the day, including Eleanor Roosevelt, John and Robert Kennedy. Hosting parties and philanthropic events, such diverse performers as Pablo Casals and Jack Benny lent their talents and presence to Longue Vue and the Sterns.

Longue Vue in Second Life on the CNDG Estate

In keeping with its mission of creating faithful reproductions of great homes and properties listed in the National Registry of Historic Places, CNDG has recreated Longue Vue House and Gardens in Second Life to photographic exactness, establishing a refuge within the virtual met averse of peace and tranquillity and celebrating an era of lost beauty. The buildings, gardens and avenues of Longue Vue come alive in this recreation, leading to a home in Second Life unique and unparalleled in its amazing faithfulness to the original.

Lead designer of the project RJ Kikuchiyo, who lived for many years in new Orleans, had this to say about Longue Vue:

“Longue Vue was where I took my wife to be, a real lovely place, a national treasure. It is on the map for horticulturists around the world - it is a place where one can meet and work with famous landscape designers in a classic environment. The variety of garden designs and architecture can be seen as homage to the classic styles of European Royal gardens, a statement intended to impress anyone who visits. The grounds are used as a meeting place for preservationists and non-profits, and corporate organisations love to hold meetings and parties there because of the other-world timeless nature. The Longue Vue House and Gardens was such an impressive tour-de-force of design and style from well-known artists, that the impressing has stayed with me even years later. Longue Vue in SL is built with the same sense of admiration and awe to share that experience with other residents looking for a magic garden and escape to a place built with love, both originally and in the virtual. When the Sterns built Longue Vue, it was to show that American tastes can mix the styles of European Aristocrat, Southern Revival and naturalist. The historic parts are preserved as a museum of what the US rich and famous liked like in the 1940s, but with a clearly American influence. The original gave the designers unlimited resources to achieve the beauty and artistry that is Longue Vue. Longue Vue is a place that was built to surprise and delight, for the original residents as well as the public.”

Longue Vue House and Gardens in New Orleans is now an institution of learning and philanthropy, helping to rebuild the devastated region in the aftermath of Katrina and visited by thousands of tourists, school children and students of architecture and garden design. Longue Vue in New Orleans is continuing the Sterns dedication to the poor of their community by raising money and rebuilding school and public spaces in Katrina devastated Pontrachain.

Longue Vue House and Gardens in Second Life is an anchor landmark in the CNDG Estate, providing all residents of Second Life with the opportunity to experience this unique home and its formal gardens in a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere. A copy of Longue Vue House and Garden was sold last year as a private home to a Second Life resident. Design and construction of such unique homes in one of the core contributions that CNDG makes to adding to the content and landscape of Second Life. Please come share and enjoy this unique site with us in Second Life.

To see Longue Vue House and Gardens on the web, and to help with their work in New Orleans reconstruction, please navigate your internet browser to http://www.longuevue.com/.